Six years after four family members died suspiciously of arsenic poisoning, the three remaining Blackwoodsâ€”elder, agoraphobic sister Constance; wheelchair-bound Uncle Julian; and eighteen-year-old Mary Katherine, or, Merricatâ€”live together in pleasant isolation. Merricat has developed an idiosyncratic system of rules and protective magic to guard the estate against intrusions from hostile villagers. But one day a stranger arrivesâ€”cousin Charles, with his eye on the Blackwood fortuneâ€”and manages to penetrate into their carefully shielded lives. Unable to drive him away by either polite or occult means, Merricat adopts more desperate methods, resulting in crisis, tragedy, and the revelation of a terrible secret.

Jackson's novel emerges less as a study in eccentricity and moreâ€”like some of her other fictionsâ€”as a powerful critique of the anxious, ruthless processes involved in the maintenance of normalcy itself.

Cost: All programs are free and open to the public. The TCPL 2018 Community Read is made possible by the generous support of The Friends of the Tompkins County Public Library.